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to wait and bent his head so that she could speak softly. "You had better speak to the child, Ian. He is not only sick, he is sickened. He saw what he is really too young to see, and the horse will make everything worse." |
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"It is his first battle, Alinor. That he should be sick is a usual thing. Every boy needs to be blooded. He must grow accustomed." |
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"God forbid!" Alinor exclaimed. |
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"God forbid!" Ian echoed in amazement. "Geoffrey must learn that battles make dead men. Thirteen is not too young to see death." |
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"It is too young to see his master fighting berserk." |
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"Berserk? I?" Ian's eyes wandered to the flesh-and-blood-caked morningstar, then down his own body. He was completely covered with blood, his hands and arms dyed with it well above the elbows, his surcoat stiffening almost as hard as untanned leather as the blood dried. "Good Lord," he said mildly, "no wonder you said I should not permit myself to be so overset." He turned from Alinor to his squire. ''Owain, did I act in any way unusual?" |
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"Lord, I have never seen the like. Of the eleven men, you struck down eight. And the horse followed you, trampling any who rose." |
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"Not then," Ian said impatiently, "before the battle. Did I fail in giving any order to the men that was needful?" |
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Ian nodded with satisfaction. "I thought I remembered dealing with the men as usual. The rest is not important. Go send Geoffrey to me. Give order also that the bodies be tied to the worst of the beasts. They can be loaded into carts when we come to the nearest farmstead." |
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"Ian," Alinor said softly when the squire was gone. "It is not unimportant. You threw your shield away. Those creatures were nothing, but in a real battle" |
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